


Worth It

by Calantha2001



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calantha2001/pseuds/Calantha2001
Summary: SG-1 on a simple mission to explore another planet. A flash flood puts them all in danger.Set early, prior to Carter getting her promotion in Fair Game.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a winter's evening walk with my dog, when the light rain suddenly started coming down in torrents and blowing sideways, and the temperature dropped dramatically.  
> Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, not making any money from 'em. Took them out to play and am putting them back, mostly intact.

_“Unscheduled off-world activation!”_

At the PA announcement, General George Hammond closed his laptop and hurried down the stairs to the control room.

“Receiving IDC, sir,” Sergeant Harriman said as Hammond stopped beside him. “It’s…” He trailed off, a puzzled frown crossing his face.

“Sergeant?”

“I’m not sure, sir. The computer doesn’t recognize the code.”

“Who do we have off-world?” 

Harriman checked the clipboard on the desk. “SG units one, five, eleven, and sixteen. No one is due to return or check in for at least four hours.” The sender cleared the code and started again. “They’re repeating each of the numbers, sir,” Harriman said. “We don’t have any codes like this.”

Hammond grabbed the PA microphone. “Defense teams to the gateroom,” he said. “This is not a drill! I repeat, defense teams to the gateroom. Medical team, standing by.”

“It’s like they’re stuttering,” Harriman said, watching the numbers pop up on the IDC screen again in repeated pairs or triplets.

Below them, SFs poured into the gateroom and took up defensive positions. The numbers cleared and began again, a third try. This time there was one number, a pause, another number, pause. “Maybe they’re under duress?” Harriman suggested.

“Or shaking.” Hammond tried not to let various scenarios, each worse than the last, play out in his head.

The last digit finally appeared, and the computer showed a positive match. “It’s SG-1’s code, sir.”

“Open the iris,” Hammond said over his shoulder, already hustling down to the gateroom.

Harriman opened the iris and sent the all-clear signal.

As Hammond entered the gateroom, Captain Carter stepped through the gate, yelling “Medic!” before she had even cleared the event horizon. A step behind her were Teal’c and Daniel Jackson, supporting Colonel O’Neill between them. All four were as wet as if the illusion of standing water in the ring was actual water. Droplets fell off them, pinged on the metal ramp, and splashed onto the concrete floor below.

“Hi,” Carter said, visibly trembling. “Hypo-“ she took a breath, “th-thermia.”

“Stand down,” Hammond ordered the SFs, who immediately relaxed their stance. He gestured to Harriman in the control room, who got on the PA and ordered the med team in.

SG-1 collectively staggered to the end of the ramp, where O’Neill sagged and Teal’c and Daniel abruptly sat down with him in a controlled fall. Carter dropped down close to Teal’c, on the far side of Jackson. Carter and O’Neill were missing their caps, and Jackson his boonie and glasses, but they all otherwise looked like when they’d left, other than the drowned-rat impersonations, shivering, and blue-tinged lips.

“L-leg.” Jackson’s hand shook as he pointed to O’Neill’s left leg.

“Colonel?” Hammond stepped to the side to let Dr. Fraiser and her team approach.

O’Neill glanced up, as though just realizing where he was. “H-home?”

“Yes, Colonel, you brought your team home.”

O’Neill sighed. His arms slipped from Teal’c and Jackson’s shoulder, his eyes rolled back, and he slumped against Jackson. Teal’c grabbed for him, preventing Jackson from falling backward under the colonel’s sudden weight.

“Let’s get him on the gurney, people!” Dr. Fraiser called, as she reached for O’Neill’s wrist to check his pulse.

_SIX HOURS EARLIER_

SG-1 had been trudging through heavy woods for over three hours. They’d climbed two forested ridges and descended this one, clambering over a dense collection of fallen tree trunks and limbs, and had at last reached the rock-strewn valley, littered with forest detritus.

Daniel sneezed as they stepped into the sunshine.

“Bless,” O’Neill said. He dusted what looked like pine needles from his clothing. “Could cut an entire winter’s worth of firewood from just a couple of these logs.”

“It appears no one has needed to gather firewood from here for quite some time,” Teal’c said, surveying the amount of deadwood around them.

O’Neill turned in a slow circle, studying the terrain. The valley they stood in stretched north and south, while the start of the next ridge left the floor of the valley only about twenty yards wide. More hills were visible at the north end of the valley. “Ruins we’re heading for should be just over that rise, due west.”

Carter knelt down for a closer look at one of the rock formations that sparkled in the bright sunshine. “This is interesting,” she murmured.

“Shame we’re not setting up camp here tonight,” Daniel said, glancing around. “Could have a nice fire, easy.”

“No way,” O’Neill said. “Even if we weren’t planning to head back in a few hours, I’d never set up camp down here. Looks like a dry stream bed.” He cocked his head. “Carter?”

She sat back on her heels. “Permission to take some samples, sir?”

O’Neill bent down to see what had captured her attention. ”It’s shiny.” He poked it with one finger. “It’s a shiny rock, Carter.”

“Yes, sir. I’d like to collect enough to run some tests, see what kind of mineral deposits it has.”

“Sure.” He straightened. “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, kids, we’re gonna take five.”

Daniel unzipped Carter’s pack and handed her the sample case.

Teal’c raised one eyebrow. “Smoke what?”

O’Neill attempted to explain the idiom while he and Teal’c walked a perimeter, peering into the shadows of the forest. Daniel sat cross-legged on the ground beside Carter and helped her label the tiny sample jars as she filled a few.

“Oh, my,” O’Neill said a few minutes later. He gave a low whistle as he stared at the north end of the valley. The others glanced at him, then followed his line of sight.

“Holy Hannah!” Carter stared at the dark clouds that were gathering around the hilltop in the distance, so thick they completely obscured its peak. “Where’d those come from?”

Daniel looked up at the sky. “There wasn’t a cloud in the sky when we came through the gate.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Rain started falling from the dark clouds over the hills even as the clouds grew and spread, covering more of the sky.

“I got a bad feeling about this,” O’Neill muttered. He turned to his team. “Pack it up, kids. We’re heading for higher ground.”

Carter quickly packed the vials into the sample case, Daniel zipped it into her backpack, and they headed for the western ridge.

“No, back the way we came,” O’Neill said. Daniel raised a finger to launch a protest but O’Neill waved his own finger at him before Daniel could speak. “If this turns out to be a garden variety rain shower, we’ll take the longer route along the top of the ridge to the ruins.”

Daniel dropped his hand and nodded agreement.

“Teal’c, take point. I’ve got our six.”

They had barely climbed into the tree line when clouds completely obscured the sun. It was like a light switch flipped, plunging them into a twilight gloom. Thunder rumbled again, and again. Then a separate sound became audible and grew louder, a roar like a dozen freight trains bearing down on them.

“Climb higher, now!” O’Neill shouted over the roar. “Go, go, go!”

Carter glanced over her shoulder. Through the trees she saw a wall of water coming toward them down the valley, a roiling mass at least six feet high, trees and limbs and other debris churning in the deluge as it filled the valley. She tripped on a log and fell to her knees. Teal’c came back and reached a hand, and pulled her up and over the obstacle.

They continued to climb, scrambling over fallen trunks and dodging thick brush. Water rushed past below them, flooding the valley where they’d just been standing. A cry of pain caught her attention, barely audible over the rushing water. Below her on the hillside Daniel had fallen backward, his head perilously close to the rising water’s edge. O’Neill grabbed one of his hands and was pulling Daniel upright.

She and Teal’c started to go back for them but O’Neill waved them away. “Keep going!” he yelled.

As soon as Daniel was on his feet again, Carter followed Teal’c higher up the hillside.

The roar had diminished to that of a regular river rapids. Rain started falling, pelting them, deepening the gloom, making it even harder to see where it was safe to step.

Another sound rose above the storm, a panicked shout. She looked back. Daniel stood near the water’s edge, facing the torrent. Alone. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Jack!”

“Colonel!” she cried. She ripped off her vest and pack and started down, slipped on a wet log, and climbed back to her feet. When she looked downhill again, Daniel was gone. His vest, jacket, and boonie had been flung uphill, caught on a branch.

“O’Neill!” Teal’c’s voice boomed. “DanielJackson!”

She and Teal’c exchanged worried glances, and scrambled downhill. Now she knew why there was so much debris on the forest floor obstructing their path. Flash floods must be a common occurrence here. When the water first swept down from the hills, the stream had only been as wide as a residential street. Now it filled the valley the width of a five-lane boulevard, tumbling over rocks and trees, white caps churning on the surface.

Daniel popped up a few feet out, hip-deep in water, gasping for air. “Jack’s trapped!” He disappeared under the water again.

Carter and Teal’c worked their way closer. When Daniel stood up again, water was above his belt. “I can’t move the log! It’s pinning his legs.”

Now they were close enough to see O’Neill’s hand about six feet out, just beneath the water’s surface, waving back and forth as though he was trying to swim up.

Teal’c waded into the raging water. Daniel stood up again. “Here! Help me!” Teal’c reached into the water near Daniel, bending down so far only his back was visible. Carter fought to stay on her feet as she waded out toward them, rocks and logs and rushing water threatening to knock her down.

Daniel popped up. “Do we have any tubing or hose? Anything hollow? He’s running out of air!”

Carter glanced back up at her pack, mentally cataloging the contents. None of their packs had anything hollow bigger than an eyedropper in the first aid kit.

Teal’c stood up, his chest heaving as he dragged in air. “I cannot move it. We need a lever.”

Carter searched the debris for a suitable stick. She reached for one, lost her footing, and sat down hard. Looking for a place to set her hand to leverage herself upright, she saw the Air Force issue boots sticking out underneath a thick log about three feet out into the water, pinning the colonel on his side, his back to the current. She could see his legs stretching farther out into the stream, but his torso was obscured by the murky water rushing past. She thought she saw the pale blur of his face. “Maybe we can get his boots off, slip his feet out.”

Daniel went under again.

“I do not believe that is possible,” Teal’c said. “I see at least two logs prohibiting O’Neill’s movement.”

One minute Jack O’Neill was making sure Daniel was steady on his feet, the next Jack was falling ass over teakettle into the raging floodwater. He slammed into the ground, his fall barely cushioned by the few feet of water, breath knocked from his lungs, blinding pain shooting up his left leg. Son of a… He pushed up but his legs were stuck. The log that had rolled and knocked his feet out from under him had followed him into the water and was pinning his legs.

He tucked his body so he could reach his feet, or at least past his knees. He pushed and shoved, tried to kick, to no avail. The log wouldn’t move off his ankle and calf. He twisted and bent up as high as he could, one arm stretched up, one hand pushing against the rocky bottom. But he couldn’t reach the surface. So close. So far.

He was running out of air. His lungs burned, his head seemed ready to explode. Murky water rushed past him, sticks and other debris pounding into him. Something bounced off his skull and he saw stars.

Oh, for crying out loud! He’d survived a late-opening chute, months in an Iraqi prison, stranded in a glacier with internal injuries, snipers and System Lords and hordes of Jaffa. And he was going to die because of a freaking flash flood?

He wasn’t even sure any of his team had seen where he went in. Water was so muddy, they’d be lucky to find his body after the floodwater receded. At least the log would hold his corpse from washing downstream.

He twisted and clawed again to reach the surface. Pain shot through his left leg and knees at the awkward angle. He couldn’t even scream. His vision was fading, or the light above was getting dimmer. Maybe the water was still getting deeper, the surface impossibly farther away.

Something touched his leg. A firm but gentle touch, not the pounding, glancing blow of debris washed down in the flood. Something that lingered. Were there critters in the water, washed down from the hills? He couldn’t see anything in the murky water. It left. Had he imagined it?

The contact came back. It moved higher up his leg, to his waist. He grabbed for it. It grabbed back and held onto his wrist.

Maybe he was hallucinating from lack of oxygen, but he thought he saw a face, a pale blur in the brown water. He pulled his hand toward his face.

Daniel.

Daniel had found him. Must have been him trying to move the log off Jack’s legs. Unsuccessfully.

Daniel came closer, eyes closed against the rushing current, until they were almost nose to nose. They still had hold of each other’s wrist, but Daniel reached with his free hand to cup the back of Jack’s neck. His eyes opened.

Goodbye? Sorrow and regret at not being able to free him? No, the expression Jack saw was grim determination.

Daniel let go of his wrist and gestured from his chest to Jack’s.

What?

Daniel touched his lips with his fingertips, then Jack’s, and let out an air bubble. Before Jack could fully process his intent, Daniel kissed him.

Daniel parted his lips, cold but quickly warming. Jack’s mouth fell open in shock. Warm air puffed into his mouth, and Jack finally understood. He exhaled through his nose and cupped Daniel’s cheek, and Daniel gave him a longer puff of air. Blessed air.

Jack exhaled and Daniel gave him another breath, then stood up, his upper torso disappearing as he broke the water’s surface. Seconds later he was back. They held on to each other to fight the current, to keep each in other in place while Daniel worked to keep him alive.

Something touched Jack’s leg again. More hands on him, putting pressure on his leg. Pain flared. Jack almost blacked out but Daniel was back, cupping his face, grounding him, giving him more air. Daniel tilted his head toward Jack’s feet then gave a definitive nod, his expression positive.

Teal’c and Carter must be working on moving the log, and Daniel was buying them time so it was a rescue operation and not just retrieval.

It was getting easier to accept the breaths. They set up a steady rhythm of exhale, connect, inhale, pause while Daniel surfaced for more air, repeat.

Carter grabbed a stick and stood up. “Here. Let’s try this.” She waded farther out and placed the stick and applied pressure while Teal’c tried to swing the log. She pushed harder. The log started to move. Her stick snapped in half. Carter fell face-first into the water. She froze in shock at the sudden submersion in the cold water.

She’d almost recovered when movement caught her eye. She turned her head in time to see Daniel kiss the colonel.

No, not a kiss, though they each had one hand on the other’s face in a gesture that usually indicated intimacy. Daniel backed away a few inches. Air bubbles escaped as O’Neill exhaled. Daniel moved in close again, their hands guiding and holding them steady in the turbulent water, until Daniel fitted his mouth to the colonel’s again.

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation , underwater. Rescue breathing with a conscious recipient.

Breath delivered, Daniel shot to the surface and dragged in gulps of air.

Carter grabbed another branch and used it to lever herself up, and exchanged nods with Daniel. Leave it to him to think outside the box and come up with an unorthodox solution.

Jack’s hands were clumsy as he reached for Daniel, chill permeating his body, clouding his thinking. How long could they keep this up? How long could he survive on second-hand air? Would he succumb to hypothermia first?

Trusting other people did not come easy for Jack, but he had to trust his team would take care of him, get him out of this predicament. They were good people. He was confident they were doing their best.

But he was so cold. So tired. He wanted to let go, to rest. Just for a bit.

He must have zoned out. Daniel had both hands on Jack’s cheeks, shaking him gently, a worried frown on his face.

No, Jack couldn’t rest. He’d fight. He’d keep fighting to survive if for no other reason than to prevent Daniel suffering the pain of losing a friend. He’d had so many losses already in his life. And Jack had to protect his team.

Jack drew on reserves to focus. He couldn’t feel his hands but he brought them up to Daniel’s neck anyway and pulled him in close, and accepted another breath. And another.

Something struck his head. He blacked out.

Carter and Teal’c worked on moving the log while Daniel would take a few deep breaths then submerge again. She forced her mind to focus on the log math -- fulcrum and force, mass and leverage -- and not calculating the amount of carbon dioxide the colonel was getting from secondhand air and how long before he suffered hypoxia, or wondering if it had already set in.

“Push here!” Teal’c said, pointing to a different spot on the log.

Carter wedged her stick and pushed, the rough bark digging into her palms and fingers. The water hit her at mid-thigh when she started working but now was past her waist, and she was chilled to the bone. When Daniel surfaced for air, he slapped the surface with one hand while he treaded water, his other arm staying down – holding onto the colonel’s outstretched hand to avoid being swept away in the swift current, and then dove under again. Teal’c disappeared beneath the surface entirely as he grasped the log, trying to dislodge it.

For a heart-stopping moment Carter was entirely alone. Her commanding officer was trapped underwater, Daniel had gone below to give him another breath, and the water now completely covered Teal’c as he squatted down trying to move a tree trunk.

Not another living soul on the entire planet.

Teal’c popped his head up. “CaptainCarter, allow me to move your lever.”

She loosened her grip so he could place it a foot or so further down at a different angle.

“Press now,” he said, and then ducked underwater again.

Carter pressed. And felt the log move. Teal’c repositioned the lever again, she pushed again, and the stick suddenly flipped up out of the water as Teal’c rolled the log away.

A moment later Daniel surfaced, holding the colonel tucked against him. The water was pushing them away, downstream and further out into the channel. Daniel stroked one-handed and kicked toward the shore.

Carter lunged, stretching out her stick as she went deeper in the water. “Daniel, grab on!”

Daniel shook water from his eyes and grabbed for the stick. O’Neill’s head was above water but his eyes were closed, his body limp.

The water was up to Carter’s shoulders now, threatening to sweep her feet out from under her.

“I have you, CaptainCarter,” Teal’c said.

She launched herself toward Daniel on the water’s surface, stick held out in front as far as she could stretch. Teal’c grabbed her ankle and strode further out.

Daniel grabbed on. Teal’c walked back toward shore, pulling the chain of Carter and Daniel and the colonel, who was floating on the surface, his head on Daniel’s shoulder.

Soon she was able to get her feet down again, and she and Teal’c reeled them in.

Teal’c lifted the colonel in his arms and marched up the hill with him. Daniel and Carter trailed in his wake, gasping to catch their breath. Teal’c stopped when they were as high as where Daniel had flung his vest and went down to one knee.

“Get him on his side, in the recovery position,” Carter said, cushioning O’Neill’s head as Teal’c set him down and rolled him to his side.

“Come on, Jack,” Daniel said, dropping to his knees. He thumped O’Neill on the back with his cupped hand. “Don’t make this all for nothing!” He thumped several more times, harder.

“Colonel, wake up!” Carter patted his cheek. His very cold, chilled cheek. She shuddered.

“O’Neill!” Teal’c barked, shaking O’Neill’s shoulder.

O’Neill drew in a gasping breath, coughed and spit out some water, then coughed some more.

Teal’c and Daniel helped him sit up. Carter swiped a shaking hand over her face, dashing away moisture from her cheeks. That was rain, not tears, she assured herself. She took a shaky breath of her own, watching color come back into the colonel’s face.

O’Neill coughed some more and struggled to catch his breath. “Well, that was interesting,” he deadpanned after a couple minutes.

Daniel chuckled. Carter grinned. Teal’s stood, and offered a hand to help haul O’Neill to his feet. He wobbled a bit and took several moments to get his balance. Teal’c held on, steadying him.

Rain still pelted down, and water was still rising from the valley. They all swiped at the debris and mud clinging to their soaked clothes. O’Neill rested one hand on Teal’c’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Teal’c bowed his head.

O’Neill patted Carter on her upper arm. “Good work, Captain.”

He couldn’t know what part each had played in his rescue but she accepted the praise anyway. “Thank you, sir.”

He turned to Daniel. “And you!” He placed both hands on Daniel’s cheeks, hauled him in close, and gave him a loud smacking kiss. Right on the mouth. “I really hope you don’t have a cold.”

Daniel gave a lopsided grin. O'Neill kept his hands holding Daniel’s face a few heartbeats longer, their foreheads close together, his eyes conveying gratitude he couldn’t put into words.

Daniel ducked his chin and smiled, a blush staining his cheeks. “If I do, we’ve both got it now.”

O’Neill gave him a double pat on both shoulders before dropping his arms. “Let’s head home, kids.” He took a look around to get his bearings. “Carter, can you find the gate with your doohickey in this storm?”

Carter hid a grin and took the doohickey in question out of her pants pocket, out of its protective case, and took a reading. “Yes, sir. It’s about six klicks that way, two ridges over.”

“Good. Lead the way, Captain.”

Daniel’s boonie had blown away in the wind, but he shrugged into his wet jacket and vest. He put his glasses on, looked into the sideways blowing rain, then tucked them back into a pocket. They all set off. A little higher and Carter retrieved her vest and pack and put them on without breaking stride. Her cap had floated away when she fell in the water, as had the colonel’s hat when he fell in.

They had almost reached the first crest when O’Neill went down on his left knee. Daniel put a shoulder under his arm and helped him up, and they continued walking.

The ambient temperature on the planet had been a balmy 55 degrees or so with bright sun when they arrived, a comfortable temp for a long hike. With the sun obscured by clouds and rain pouring down, the temp had dropped to about 40, even lower factoring in the wind chill. And they were all soaked to the skin. They’d seen no shelter on their earlier hike in. No caves or outcroppings, and the only ruins the UAV had shown were two klicks the other way -- on the far side of the raging flood.

Carter paused for another reading at the peak.

Daniel had O’Neill’s left arm slung over his shoulder, his right arm around the colonel’s waist. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it when he shook his head.

“Keep going, Captain.”

“Yes, sir.” She led the way down the hill, trying to find the easiest but still direct path. Her toes sloshed in her boots, numb from cold despite her physical exertion. Rain still pelted down, though the roar of the flash flood was now a distant hum. The sky had no clouds but was instead one solid mass of dark gray, turning the bright sunlight to deep twilight. Her fingers were like ice when she held the scanner.

Halfway up the next ridge, adrenalin had worn off and exhaustion was setting in. She was so cold, if she fell she’d shatter like an icicle. She’d kill for a pause in the rain and a hot cup of coffee, but she’d settle for a drink of water from her canteen and a pit stop. The guys were still going, though, their harsh breathing audible over the falling rain. She pushed on.

She paused near the peak. The forest thinned out on the other side, offering less privacy. This was about the spot where they’d taken a break on their hike in. “Take five, sir?”

“Negative. Take turns if you need to water a bush, but I gotta keep moving.” His face was drawn in pain, and it took several breaths for him to get out that simple sentence. Teal’c was holding the colonel’s right arm over his shoulder, Daniel still on his left, O’Neill limping badly.

They took turns breaking off to relieve themselves and get a drink from their canteens, but the team kept moving.

By the time the Stargate blessedly came into view, her hands and feet felt like ice. She couldn’t feel her nose. Her eyes watered and her nose dripped. O’Neill was barely moving, not putting his left foot down at all, Daniel and Teal’c taking most of his weight.

It wasn’t cold enough for frostbite, and their physical exertion was keeping their core temperatures up high enough to stave off the worst dangers of hypothermia, but clearly he was suffering aftereffects from his near-drowning.

She slapped her palm down on each symbol to dial the DHD. She almost cried in frustration when her hands shook uncontrollably trying to press the tiny numbers on the GDO with numb fingers, but finally after the third try they got the all-clear.

As soon as they crossed the event horizon, she started calling for a medic.

_AT THE SGC_

“Doctor?” General Hammond spoke softly, not wanting to disturb the three patients asleep in beds lined up in a row in the infirmary. Heart monitors on Jackson, O’Neill, and Carter kept up a reassuring steady beeping.

Janet Fraiser finished writing a note in the colonel’s chart and hung the clipboard at the foot of his bed. “They’ll be all right, sir.” She gave him a small smile. “SG-1’s legendary luck played out again on this mission. Teal’c checked out fine after a long shower. Rumor is that he, Dr. Jackson, and Captain Carter walked into the showers still fully dressed.”

Hammond grinned. “Couldn’t get much wetter than they already were.”

“No, sir.” Fraiser checked the IV taped to O’Neill’s left hand. “Teal’c is in his quarters performing kel-no-reem. I’ve got these three-” she gestured at the row of beds – “ under warmed blankets and warmed saline IVs. I’ll probably release Doctor Jackson and Captain Carter in the morning. I just want to make sure they’re maintaining their temps. “

“And Colonel O’Neill?”

“To monitor his concussion I’ll want to keep him probably a few days before I release him to convalesce at home. The good news is we were able to set his fractured fibula without surgery. “

“A broken leg?” That explained how he’d arrived, supported between Teal’c and Doctor Jackson.

“It’s my fault,” came Doctor Jackson’s muffled voice. He was curled up on his side facing O’Neill’s bed, legs and arms tucked close in a self-hug, huddled under a thick pile of blankets. “It’s my fault Jack got hurt.”

“How do you figure that, son?” Hammond and Fraiser turned their attention to him.

“We were climbing out of a ravine to escape a flash flood. I tripped and slid backward, down the hill. Jack pulled me up and then…” He scrubbed his hand without the IV over his face. “A log rolled and knocked Jack down, pinned his legs in place. If he hadn’t stopped to help me, he’d have been fine. Wouldn’t have almost drowned.”

“Drowned?” Fraiser stepped closer to Daniel’s bed, while glancing back at O’Neill. “He failed to mention anything about nearly drowning.”

“The log pinned him under water, his back to the current.”

“That explains the contusions on his back and legs,” Fraiser said softly.

“Yeah, he got hit a few times by stuff coming down in the water.” Daniel tucked the blanket under his chin. “Took all three of us to get him free. When we got him up on the bank, he, uh…” Jackson scrubbed a hand over his face again. “He wasn’t breathing.”

“You performed CPR?” Fraiser leaned closer to Jackson.

Jackson pursed his lips. “In a manner of speaking.”

Fraiser looked puzzled. “His chest X-rays were clear. No damage to his ribs.”

“We didn’t do any chest compressions. I thumped him on the back. He coughed and started breathing on his own. Then we hiked the four miles back to the gate in the rain.”

Hammond patted Jackson on the shoulder. “I am confident Colonel O’Neill does not see what happened as being your fault, son.”

Jackson looked dubious.

“Try to get some rest.” Hammond gave him another pat. “I’m sure things will look differently tomorrow.”

Jackson still looked unconvinced, but gave a nod and closed his eyes.

Dr. Fraiser made rounds again just before graveyard shift came on. Lights were low and the infirmary quiet so the patients could rest. She finished recording the colonel’s vital signs on his chart. His temp was almost back up to normal, but she gestured for the nurse to bring him another warmed blanket anyway.

Captain Carter was awake and staring at Colonel O’Neill, who was still sleeping. “We almost lost him, Janet,” she said softly.

Fraiser knew O’Neill’s full medical history, including before he joined the Stargate program though not the details of his many classified missions, and knew what he’d been through leading his team for missions off-world since the first trip to Abydos. “I’m thinking he’s too stubborn to die.”

Carter shook her head. “There was so much silt stirred up in the water I couldn’t see him until I practically fell on top of him. If Daniel hadn’t seen where he got knocked into the river, we wouldn’t have been able to find him. We wouldn’t have—“ she broke off to take in a shaky breath. “We wouldn’t have been able to find him. At all.”

“But you did.” She rested her hand on Carter’s shoulder. “The three of you found him and got him out, and I’ll bet by tomorrow he’ll be his usual grumpy self, annoying me and my staff so I’ll kick him out of the infirmary.”

As Fraiser planned, Carter gave a watery chuckle.

Fraiser glanced between O’Neill and Carter. “Did you say you fell in the water, too?”

Carter nodded. “Overbalanced when the stick I was using as a lever broke. Teal’c spent more time underwater, trying to move the log. And Daniel was in the water almost as long as the Colonel.”

Fraiser scrubbed one hand through her hair. It was so much easier to treat patients if she had complete information. The secretive nature of what SG teams did sometimes spilled over to withholding vital information to medical staff, even if it was unintentional. “I put him on broad spectrum antibiotics. I’m going to put you and Doctor Jackson on them, too. No telling what was in that water.”

They watched the nurse spread the warmed blanket over O’Neill. Within moments he let out a soft sigh and his heartbeat slowed as he relaxed further, deeply asleep.

Fraiser glanced back at Carter. “How are you feeling? Want another blanket?”

At Carter’s nod, the nurse fetched another blanket from the heater cabinet. Fraiser took it and spread it herself. “Get some rest, Sam. Do you want something to help you sleep?”

She shook her head. “I’m finally starting to feel warm. I’ll be okay now.”

Fraiser patted her shoulder and went to check on her other patients.

General Hammond went up to the infirmary mid-morning. Carter and Jackson had already been discharged and even submitted their preliminary mission reports, and Carter was starting the analysis of the rock samples she’d brought back. The team debriefing was postponed until O’Neill could join them, even if he was in a wheelchair or on crutches.

Colonel O’Neill was awake, sitting up and sipping from a coffee cup, though George would wager a week’s pay it wasn’t filled with coffee. Bruises had bloomed on O’Neill’s temple but his skin had a healthy pink undertone. So much better than the blue tinge when they’d come through the gate yesterday looking like chilled, drowned rats. George sat in the chair next to O’Neill’s bed.

“Congratulations, Colonel. You brought your team home despite some pretty intense challenges. Again.”

“No, sir.” O’Neill put the cup down on the side table with a grimace. The scent of beef broth wafted across. “My team brought me home. I’d have been a goner without them.”

“Doctor Jackson insisted last night that what happened was his fault.”

“He’s wrong. My fault for taking my eyes off that damn log. “

“Figured that’s what you’d say. Told him that.” Hammond leaned forward in his chair. “I read their reports, Jack. Good thing you stopped smoking a few years ago. You’d never have been able to hold your breath long enough to be rescued alive if you hadn’t quit.”

O’Neill took his time picking up his cup and taking a sip. “I didn’t hold my breath,” he said, staring into the cup. “I held Daniel’s breaths.”

“Come again?” Hammond rested his hands flat on his knees and cocked his head to one side so he didn’t miss a syllable. This was going to be a doozy.

O’Neill took another sip. “Undoubtedly in my extensive medical history I’ve needed to be resuscitated before, but this was the first time I’ve been awake for it. An active participant.”

Hammond forced himself to not drop his jaw.

O’Neill drained his cup but held on to it, running one finger around the rim as he spoke. “Falling into the water knocked the wind outta me. By the time Daniel found me, my vision was already graying out. He grabbed my face and came in close. Real close. I thought he was saying goodbye, gonna give me the kiss of death, like a mafia boss. But instead he gave me breath. Bought time for Teal’C and Carter to get me loose.”

O’Neill set his cup on the table and let out a ghost of a laugh. “Guess those CPR and swim lessons I gave him when he joined the team paid off, eh?”

Hammond chuckled and brushed his hand across his face. “Luck o’ the Irish,” he muttered.

“And here I thought I was teaching him how to save his own life, or to not need saving.”

Hammond shook his head in amazement. “Dr. Jackson omitted this detail from his report. Just said that he, Captain Carter, and Teal’c found you in the river and freed you from the log pinning you down.”

O’Neill shrugged. “Boy doesn’t like to toot his own horn.”

Just then the ‘boy’ in question entered the infirmary. “Oh! Good morning, General.”

“Doctor Jackson.”

Jackson jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “We’ll, uh, we’ll just come back later.” Carter and Teal’c had arrived a few steps behind him.

Before they could walk away, Hammond stood and patted the back of the chair. “I was just leaving. Have a seat, son.”

“Oh. If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Hammond smiled and left. Walking past, he noted Jackson was holding a to-go bag from the commissary behind his back. Bootleg food in the infirmary, but that was Dr. Fraiser’s business, not his. He exchanged greetings with Captain Carter and Teal’c, who both had suspicious bulges in their pants cargo pockets – was that pie he smelled? - and walked back to his office marveling anew at the teamwork of SG-1.

“You guys left before I even woke up,” Jack groused as Carter and Teal’c came close. Carter pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed while Teal’c took up sentry position at the foot. Jack’s mood brightened considerably when Daniel held up a food sack in one hand, a finger to his lips with the other.

They all looked, but saw no sign of Fraiser.

“Janet kicked us out. Said she needed the beds.” Daniel unloaded the bag onto Jack’s side table and swung it over Jack’s lap. He kept his voice low. “I figured you wouldn’t like the infirmary breakfast. Please eat some of the egg first so you’re getting protein. Then I won’t feel as guilty.”

Jack had been debating between the blueberry muffin and tiny box of Froot Loops, but obediently unwrapped the small plate of scrambled eggs. Daniel tipped the bag, spilling plastic cutlery, little packets of butter, salt and pepper, and a napkin, and pulled a carton of milk from his pants cargo pocket.

Cargo pockets were awesome. Carter pulled out a plastic-wrapped cup of red gelatin cubes from one of her pockets and a carton of orange juice from the other. Teal’c fished out a cluster of grapes and a slice of cherry pie. It had tilted and smushed at one end, but no matter. Jack could scrape it off the plastic wrap.

Jack dug into his feast. So much better than the plain oatmeal the nurse on duty had brought him. No coffee allowed, and not even any maple syrup or brown sugar to make the cereal palatable.

Jack ate a few blissful bites, then pointed his fork at Daniel. “Tell me you’ve had something more than coffee this morning.”

He nodded. “Janet insisted. I think she even checked the garbage can by the door to make sure I didn’t dispose of it. How do you think I knew you’d need something?”

Jack raised an eyebrow at Carter in silent query.

“I, uh, liked the oatmeal, sir.”

Jack split the muffin and buttered both halves. He pushed one half toward Daniel, and resumed eating. He didn’t have a clear shot to the garbage can so he’d hidden his oatmeal in the bottom drawer of his bedside cabinet. All he’d had today was the beef broth Fraiser kept pushing on him to help raise his body temp. It had been welcome last night when he still felt like a Popsicle, but now he was sick of it.

Daniel broke off a piece of muffin and nibbled. ”So, any idea when Janet’s going to let you go home?”

Jack started to shake his head but thought better of it. “No. I uh, had a little dizzy spell this morning when I tried to get up.” He touched the goose egg on the back of his head, a souvenir from one of the logs in the river.

“Concussion?” Carter unwrapped the gelatin and popped one of the cubes in her mouth.

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t have a concussion, given how much stuff in the river was hitting you.” Daniel ate a blueberry.

“Yeah, apparently you’re lucky I didn’t puke on your shoes on the walk back to the gate.”

“We are indeed grateful.” Teal’c plucked a grape off the tray and ate it.

“Thank you for small favors.” Daniel spread the last of the butter on the muffin and bit into it.

Jack pointed an accusing finger at Daniel, at the small scratches and bruises on his face, his red-rimmed eyes. “You didn’t exactly get off scot-free.”

Daniel touched one of the scratches, a small slash across his left cheek. “I could see what was coming, though. Dodge the worst of it.”

They fell quiet a moment, each reliving those frantic moments in the flash flood.

“Hey,” Jack said, eager to think of more pleasant things. “This is great, but you know I’m not going to be able to eat all of this.” He gestured at the laden table across his lap.

Teal’c, Carter, and Daniel as one each pulled a fork out of the breast pocket on their BDU blouse. Teal’c swiped almost half the pie in one go, Carter speared several of the gelatin cubes, and Daniel scooped up some of the scrambled egg. Jack poured milk on his Froot Loops and they ate in silence for a moment.

Jack’s body felt like he’d gone ten rounds and lost, his head felt like it weighed fifty pounds, and the room had the disconcerting habit of spinning if he moved his head too fast. Something in the water had irritated his sinuses. Even his throat was sore. And he had weeks of walking with crutches ahead, followed by physical therapy, before his leg would fully heal.

But he was here, with all of his team, all of them safe. A grape felt cool and soothing going down.

Daniel sneezed.

They all looked at him.

“I’m sure it’s just aller— _achoo!_ –gies.” He pulled out a bandana and blew his nose.

Aw, crap. Jack tallied his symptoms again – sore throat, stuffy head, fatigue, and… he grabbed the box of tissues from the bedside table and got one out just in time to catch his sneeze. He blew his nose and glared at Daniel.

“Sorry.” Daniel’s voice was muffled by his bandana.

Jack proffered the box of tissues to Carter, but she shook her head. “I’m fine, sir.”

He set the box on the bed beside him. Apparently he was going to need them.

Daniel put away his bandana and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think maybe I do have a cold.”

Jack thought of a sarcastic retort, but at the look of remorse in Daniel’s eyes, he shut his mouth and considered the extraordinary lengths Daniel had gone to yesterday in order to save Jack’s life. He felt another sneeze coming and grabbed a tissue.

“Worth it,” Jack said.


End file.
